BURTON -- The 5-year-old smiled and laughed as he sat with his peers in a drum circle and playfully tapped his camp counselor on the head.

Colton Knight and about 10 other children listened to the counselors' instructions to beat the drums at the same time, working together to make music.

While Colton and his friends honed their musical technique Tuesday afternoon, dozens of other children and teenagers walked, rolled and ran down a winding concrete path that led them past green grass, tall trees and a river full of fish.

More than 220 disabled and special needs children and their siblings from Brenham, Houston and Bryan-College Station spent the past week in Burton at Camp for All, a summer camp complete with swimming pool, baseball field, zip line and petting zoo.

Colton, who has Down syndrome, was participating in Camp LIFE through the Texas A&M Family Support Network, a resource for Brazos Valley families with children who have disabilities.

It was the first time Camp LIFE participated in the weeklong program, and Colton's mom, Christy, was having some trouble adjusting to being away from her son for a whole week.

"It was nice the first day or two, but now I'm just ready for him to come home," she said from her College Station home Thursday.

Amy Sharp, a Texas A&M professor and the director of the support network, said the camp benefits the kids by allowing them to make new friends, learn what they can do for themselves and learn to work with others.

Camp LIFE -- Leadership, Independence, and Friends through Experiences -- got its start from a 2004 project submitted by Sterling Leija as part of Sharp's class.

"As I was sitting there grading papers, I thought this one was too good to just grade it and file it away," Sharp said. "I said, 'Let's do this.'"

Most counselors for Camp LIFE are Texas A&M undergraduate students who are in a special education teacher training program.

Knight, the founder of the Down Syndrome Support Group of Bryan-College Station, said she had worked with several of the counselors and felt comfortable sending her son to the camp.

Camp for All is filled with activities, and the experience will be good for Colton, she said, adding that the camp will help him become more comfortable with tasks, a step toward becoming self-sufficient.

"He is socializing with other children, developing his verbal skills and learning how to share, play and follow directions," she said. "Colton just loves it."

The 206-acre Burton facility is the perfect place for Alexandria "Allie" Phillips, the 12-year-old said.

Allie, who uses a wheelchair because of improperly formed joints and scoliosis, a curvature of the spine, said it was the fourth year she'd attended the camp but the first time she had been at a weeklong event.

"I love coming to camp. [I] usually just come to the weekend camps, but this time it's for the whole week," she said.

Allie said she was enjoying making friends, swimming, fishing and canoeing.

"I was afraid that the counselors wouldn't be able to transfer me into the canoe," she said. "But I trust them, and now I realize that I can do it."

Camp officials said the activities give the kids an opportunity to do things they otherwise might get to do.

Pat Sorrells, president and chief executive of the nonprofit Camp For All Foundation, said the camp counselors and activities help participants gain self-esteem, self-awareness and independence.

Everything at the camp is wheelchair-accessible and built to meet the needs of the campers, Sorrells said.

"We try to make it about what they can do, as opposed to what they can't do," she said. "Small steps can be huge steps."

Sometimes, Sorrells said, children with special needs or disabilities and their siblings feel as though they are the only ones going through what they are going through.

The camp, she said, gives those kids a chance to relate to others in the same position.

"I used to think I was the only one, and now I know I'm not," Allie said. "Coming here helps me. It makes me feel better. I'm lucky to be like this, and I'm grateful."

• Selena Hernandez's e-mail address is selena.hernandez@ theeagle.com.

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